He was the last remaining Brooklyn Dodger still professionally active in the sport, the New York Post reported.

He
played alongside Jackie Robinson on the only Brooklyn Dodgers team to
win the World Series. He coached Derek Jeter on the New York Yankees'
latest dynasty. And his manager once was the illustrious Casey Stengel.

For
66 years, Zimmer was a most popular presence at ballparks all over, a
huge chaw often filling his cheek. Everyone in the game seemed to know
him, and love him.

Zimmer was still working for the Tampa Bay Rays
as a senior adviser when he died Wednesday at a hospital in nearby
Dunedin. He had been in a rehabilitation center since having seven hours
of heart surgery in mid-April.

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'Today we all lost a national treasure and a wonderful man,' Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement.

Zimmer
started out as a minor league infielder in 1949, hitting powerful shots
that earned him the nickname 'Popeye.'

He went on to enjoy one of the
longest-lasting careers in baseball history.

And oh, the stories he could tell.

After 66 seasons in the game, he was the last remaining Brooklyn Dodger still professionally active

'I loved listening to him every day,' Billy Connors, a coach under Zimmer with the Chicago Cubs, told the Associated Press.

Zimmer played on the original New York Mets, saw his Boston Red Sox beaten by Bucky Dent's playoff homer, got tossed to the ground by Pedro
Martinez during a brawl and was Joe Torre's right-hand man as the bench
coach with the Yankees.

'I hired him as a coach, and he became
like a family member to me. He has certainly been a terrific credit to
the game,' Torre said in a statement.

'The game was his life. And
his passing is going to create a void in my life and my wife Ali's. We
loved him. The game of baseball lost a special person tonight. He was a
good man,' he said.

A career .235 hitter in the big leagues,
numbers could never define all that Zimmer meant to the game.

He did
have tremendous success, too — his teams won six World Series rings and
went to the postseason 19 times.

The Rays hosted the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, and Foley
was crying in the dugout.

Over his storied career, Zimmer played for for the Chicago Cubs, the original New York Mets, and the Boston Red Sox

Earlier this season, the Rays hung a banner in the front of the press box at Tropicana Field that simply read 'ZIM.'

There was a moment of silence at Dodger Stadium for Zimmer before Los Angeles played the Chicago White Sox.

'On
behalf of Major League Baseball and the many clubs that 'Popeye' served
in a distinguished baseball life, I extend my deepest condolences to
Don's family, friends and his many admirers throughout our game,'
Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

Zimmer's biggest
admirer was his wife 'Soot' — they were married at home plate during a
minor league game in 1951.

Two years later in the minors, Zimmer's path
took a frightening turn — he was beaned by a fastball and left in a
coma, and doctors had to put metal screws in his head.

He
recovered well enough to wear a lot of uniforms during his 56 years in
the majors. He played for the Dodgers, Mets, Cubs, Cincinnati and
Washington.

He managed San Diego, Boston, Texas and the Cubs.

'Probably the best baseball man I knew,' Connors said.

Don Zimmer started his career as a rookie shortstop with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954

Yankees executive Hank Steinbrenner echoed that sentiment.

'I
loved Zim. I loved his passion. He was a great, great guy. He was a
great baseball guy,' he told the AP. 'Everybody loved him.'

Steinbrenner,
son of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, said Torre and Zimmer
were the 'perfect team' during New York's run that brought four titles
in a five-year span.

'Joe was low-keyed. Zim would get fired up.
He was a bench coach for real,' Steinbrenner said. 'He was an extremely
important part of the 1990s success.'

Zimmer hit 91 home runs and
had 352 RBIs in 12 seasons. He started Game 7 when Brooklyn beat the
Yankees for the 1955 crown and was an All-Star in 1961.

For 66 years, Zimmer was a most popular presence at ballparks all over

The next year, he played under Stengel on the 1962 expansion Mets, who famously went 40-120.

'Don't blame them all on me,' Zimmer once said. 'I got traded after the first 30 days.'

Zimmer
was the 1989 NL Manager of the Year with the Cubs and was at Yankee
Stadium for three perfect games, by Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series
and by David Cone and David Wells in the late 1990s.

'It's a sad
day for the game of baseball,' Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said
after a 3-2 loss at San Diego. 'Don impacted lives from the time he put a
uniform on in the minor leagues until today.'

Zimmer is survived by his wife; son Thomas, a scout with the San Francisco Giants; daughter Donna, and four grandchildren.